Motive Or Random Attack
by shinobi101
Summary: Sasuke returns to the village and is put under house arrest. Naruto stands by him through it all. But will they come out on top?
1. Chapter 1

Sasuke sat in a cell somewhere in Konoha. Yes, Sasuke finally returned to Konoha and of his own free will I might add!

He sighed. Where were his 'friends.' He thought Naruto would come to visit him at least. Naruto didn't hate him completely. Did he? Sure he tried to kill him, but he'd done that before. That was nothing new.

Unless. . . Naruto got tired of chasing him and just gave up . . . NO! He shouldn't think like that! Naruto DOES NOT give up!

So where was Naruto? Maybe . . .

*************In The Hokage's Office*************

"Shizune."

"Yes Tsunade-sama?"

"Bring me Naruto and Sakura. We have had Sasuke back in the village for almost three weeks now. It's time we did something about it."

"Hai."

Tsunade sat lost in thought. What can we do about Sasuke? It will break Naruto's heart to have him killed. I have to think of someway to convince the council to avoid that option. Well I guess house arrest is the best option now.

TAP TAP

"Yes?"

"Tsunade-sama, Naruto and Sakura are here per to your request."

"Yes send them in."

"Naruto. Sakura. I have something to tell you. It's about Sasuke." Their eyes visibly widened.

*************An Hour Later with Sasuke*************

Sasuke heard a door open and then close. He looked up. Even through the ANBU mask on his face he could tell it was Naruto.

They stared at each other for a few seconds before Naruto regained his composure.

"Sasuke. . . Get up. You have to come with me."

Sasuke was shocked by Naruto's tone. He sounded so formal. The only time he showed any emotion or recognition was when Naruto said his name. He did as he was told anyway.

He stood up and Naruto opened the door. Naruto made a series of hand seals. Sasuke felt his hands being bond together by invisible bindings that were also suppressing his chakra.

"Follow me. Don't bother trying to escape. We are being followed by concelled ANBU members. If you try to escape you will be put to death." I can't let that happen Naruto thought.

Sasuke thought he saw caring in Naruto's eyes. So some of my old best friend is still there. I need to see how much. "You think I would come back to try to escape? Dobe!"

He saw rage pass into Naruto's eyes, but it was quickly replaced. "Just informing you of procedure, Uchiha."

Sasuke felt hurt that the person he still considered his best friend would say that, but he didn't let it show. "Baka."

"Come."

*****************************************************************

Naruto hadn't said anything to Sasuke since they left the cell block and it was really starting to get to Sasuke.

Maybe I was wrong and he DOES hate me, Sasuke thought. IF he hates me it's my own fault. I tried to kill my best friend how stupid was I. Why couldn't I have just knocked him unconscious? Why did I try to kill him? I was so stupid. Now he hates me.

Naruto heard Sasuke sigh and glanced at him. He looked really bent out of shape. What's wrong with him? Naruto was concerned. Just being locked up wouldn't do that to Sasuke. Would it?

Naruto felt like he didn't know Sasuke anymore. When he had finally come to terms with the 'new' Sasuke that wanted him dead, Sasuke had come back. Why? He had to know before Sasuke told Tsunade and his other interrogators.

Sasuke was pulled out of his thoughts when Naruto turned around and held up his hand in an ANBU signal. (The signal is touching his pointer finger to his thumb and holding up the other three fingers.)

Ten ANBU appeared in a circle around Naruto and Sasuke. "What is it Captain?" one asked.

Naruto's an ANBU captain? Sasuke thought.

"I can take it from here. You are dismissed."

A chorus of Hai's followed. Naruto waited until all of the ANBU were gone before he took off his mask.

"Sasuke," Sasuke was now starring at Naruto, "I need to talk to you before you talk to Tsunade."

"I highly doubt that's allowed. You're gonna get in trouble baka."

Naruto scratched the back of his head in an impish way like he used to when they were young. Sasuke relaxed a little bit.

"I'll get in less trouble then you would think. Why would you start to care now?"

The last part bothered Sasuke. It sounded to bitter, so Sasuke ignored it. "And why exactly wouldn't you get in trouble?"

*************Flashback to the Hokage's Office*************

"What about Sasuke?" Sakura asked.

"He came back." Tsunade replied watching their reactions. Sakura looked shocked and Naruto stared uncomprehendingly at nothing in particular. "Naruto?"

"He's back. Back where?"

"Here, gaki, here!"

"Can I see him?"

"Yes you will be escorting him to my office in a minute, but first I must inform you of the conditions."

"What conditions?" Naruto asked suspiciously.

"Well you must realize that Sasuke must stand trial in front of the council," Tsunade paused here and seeing Naruto nod she continued, "I need evidence in Sasuke's favor to keep him from being executed for treason."

"How does that involve me?"

"You were his best friend. He may be more truthful with you than with me, so I need you to talk to him before you bring him here."

"Let me get this straight," Sakura said, "you are trusting Naruto with a state prisoner that escaped from him every time he was given the chance to apprehend him? Let me talk to Sasuke. I'LL get him to tell the truth."

Naruto's eyes widened and he looked hurt. Tsunade gave Sakura a withering. "Naruto is your teammate, Sakura and more importantly your friend. You should have more faith in him. Besides all you ever did to Sasuke is annoy him."

"Naruto. I'm sorry I can't lose Sasuke. I can't . . ."

"So all I have to do is talk to Sasuke?" Naruto cut in.

"Yes, but you will be wearing a wire so we have evidence."

"Ok."

*************Present Time*************

"Just trust me. We need to talk."

********************************************************************************************************

Sasuke's POV

"Trust me. We have to talk."

". . ."

"Well come on. We can't talk out in the middle of an alley. We look like we up to something."

"Whatever." So Naruto still wanted to talk to me. This could be a sign that he didn't hate me completely. Or it could be that he wanted to beat me up somewhere where no one could notice us.

I looked up. Naruto was putting his mask back on. "Just follow me. I know where to go."

"Baka." I muttered. We had only gone a little way before there was a puff of white smoke in front of Naruto. It was Kakashi. Still reading his little orange book. Things hadn't changed as much as I thought.

Kakashi spoke to Naruto, "Those ANBU shadowers must be getting better. I can't sense them at all." Kakashi seemed to be smiling with his visible eye. Oh great the Dobe is going to get caught.

Naruto either didn't catch the meaning of what Kakashi said or didn't care. "Well yes, I suppose they are better. It's almost like they aren't here at all."

Kakashi raised his eyebrows or um . . . eyebrow. "Does Tsunade know of their. . . improvement?"

"Of course."

"Auh. . . well very good then. Be at the training grounds at 9:00 am tomorrow Naruto."

"And by nine you mean ten right."

Kakashi just eyed Naruto. "I have a way to improve your situation so don't be late." With that he was gone.

As soon as Kakashi was gone I asked, "What situation?"

"Nothing you need to worry about, Uchiha." I noticed how he flexed his right arm as he said this.

I must have looked hurt after he said that because he added, "Another time."

I followed Naruto to the Hokage building. "I thought we weren't coming here."

"I never said that." I looked at Naruto. Was he suffering from memory loss?

"You said you wanted to talk to me before we came here."

"I said I wanted to talk to you before you talked to Tsunade and we aren't there yet are we." I sighed and followed him into the building. He led me to a room that appeared to be a board room.

"Here we are no one is due to be here for another three hours." There was a pause here. "You aren't going to try to escape are you?"

"I don't think so. Not unless you bore me to death, Dobe." He seemed to relax. He clicked his fingers and I felt my hands free themselves.

"I'm pretty sure THAT wasn't allowed," I said as I flexed my fingers experimentally.

Naruto shrugged. "You said you wouldn't try to escape."

I stared at him. If he hated me why would he free me? What was going on?

"Like I said, we need to talk."


	2. Chapter 2

Naruto's POV

Why Sasuke? Why did you come back? Is Itachi dead? How did you get away from Orochimaru? Are you going to leave again? What will I do if the council executes you for treason? What did you. . .

I was pulled out of my thoughts by Sasuke shifting positions so he was leaning against the table. "Are we going to talk or are you going to stare off into space all day, dobe?"

I must have taken to long to answer because he gave me a funny look. Or maybe I imagined it. "I. . . ah. . . Why are you here?"

He looked away like he didn't want to talk about it. "You brought me here, baka. You wanted to talk remember?"

"Don't play the idiot Sasuke. It doesn't suit you. You know what I mean." Damn! Even as a prisoner Sasuke can push my buttons like no one else. How crazy is it that I missed that and wanted it back?

"I thought you wanted me here so why do you care why I came? Don't you want me back?" I thought I saw hurt in Sasuke's eyes when he said that.

"I did want you back." The hurt seemed to dig deeper into Sasuke's usually emotionless eyes. "I do," I amended. Sasuke seemed to relax at this. "But at least when I was threatening to drag you back I knew where we stood; you didn't want to be here. I was going to have to take you by force. Now. . . I have to know why you're here because I can't let you stay if you are going to hurt everyone again." Hurt me again, I silently added.

Sasuke looked rather shocked at my speech. He seemed to have lost his voice. When it finally came back it sounded horse, "I don't want to hurt everyone again," his voice got quieter, "to hurt you again."

A shocked look came over my face before I could stop it. Could he hear my thoughts? "So why are you here?"

"I need help." Was I dreaming? Did Uchiha Sasuke just admit that he needed help? I managed to keep my face expressionless. I knew what it cost Sasuke to open himself up like this and I didn't want him to think I was being judgmental.

"I. . . I can't take out Itachi alone and I sure as hell don't trust anyone from the Sound to watch my back so I decided I need to be with people that I trust."

I don't know why but this annoyed the hell out of me. He only can back for help to take down Itachi. He didn't care about the rest of us. I should have known better. Even the fact that he said that he trusted Konoha couldn't calm me down so I almost missed what came next.

"And. . . I missed you." My anger melted away.

"So. . .you won't turn around and betray us again?" Sasuke visibly winced as I said again.

"No," he said. I was soft, but it was defiantly there. "Naruto. . ."

"Yeah?"

"I. . . wanted you to know that their was no one I'd rather have watching my back than you." I light pink tint entered his face.

I didn't know how to answer that, so I glanced at the clock. "We better hurry up. Tsunade-baachan won't wait forever."

"Okay." He stood up. "Naruto, one more thing."

"Hm?"

"Are we still friends?"

A shockwave ran through my body. "Yeah. The best." I flashed him a big smile, a real one. In return I received a small smile in return. It wasn't big but it reached his eyes.

"Er. . . Sorry about having to tie you up again but Tsunade-baachan would kill me if I let you walk into her office unbound," Naruto said.

Sasuke smirked as he followed Naruto out of the board room and up the stairs. Normally Sasuke would have yelled at Naruto for leading him somewhere he already knew how to get to but their recent talk had left him in a good mood. 'Naruto's already bent enough rules for me for one day,' Sasuke thought.

Naruto knocked on the door to the Hokage's office. A muffled "You're late gaki" was heard through the door.

Sasuke was surprised that Tsunade didn't sound madder as he followed Naruto through the door.

Tsunade's eyes never left Naruto as they walked in. It made Sasuke a little bit uncomfortable.

"Uzumaki-san, before we discuss the matters at hand, did your previous infiltration mission go well?"

"Of course and it's 'Uzumaki-san' now is it?"

"I could easily make it 'Namikaze-san' now couldn't I? Which do you prefer?" Sasuke shot Naruto a questioning glance. When Naruto didn't respond, Tsunade stated, "That's what I thought."

Naruto glared at her.

"Uzumaki-san, Uchiha sit." They both obeyed.

"Uchiha I don't know why you returned to Konoha and I don't care at this point. You will tell your interrogators all they need to know in due time. The reason we are here today is to find out if you plan on abandoning the village as soon as we allow you to go free."

Tsunade got up and walked toward them. "No," Sasuke said, "I'm not leaving again."

"Forgive me for not taking your word for it." With that she punched a very unsuspecting Sasuke in the temple, knocking him out cold. "Naruto your kekkai genki."

"Yeah, yeah. You know I could have done this while he was conscious."

"I know but this was more fun."

Naruto snorted. "Nentougan (A/N - Mindeye)." Naruto's eyes turned a deep, almost hypnotyzing, purple. They had a swirl in the middle that resembled the leaf symbol, but with out the straight line and the triangle. "It doesn't seem like he's planning to leave."

"Good."

"Do you want me to wake him up?"

"No. I want to talk to you first." There was a pause. "Why don't you want anyone to know that you are the Fourth's son?"

"You already know. I don't want people respecting me just because I'm son of a Hokage. I want them to respect me because I am a great ninja and going to be a Hokage myself."

"I respect your reasons, but how are we going to explain to Sasuke how we have reached a verdict already without explaining nentougan to him?"

"Explain the nentougan to him just not where it came from. I don't want Sasuke to treat me differently so he can't know."

"I think Sasuke would treat you the same, but whatever Namikaze."

Naruto sent her a death glare that was amplified by his nentougan.

"Wake him up."

Sasuke's POV

"Wake up! Wake up, you bastard! I don't have time for this! Baachan. . . did you have to hit him so hard?"

"Yes."

"Che. Wake up! Teme!"

"Hm? Naruto?" Why was Naruto yelling in my ear? Damn that dobe was just making his head hurt worse!

The room came into focus. Naruto was standing over me with an irritated expression on his face. I looked into his sky blue eyes, trying to find answers. I saw none.

"Good to see you're finally awake. . . Gaki! Why did you have to put him under for soo long!"

"What!?! Are you out of your mind Baachan? Was I the one that hit him? No! I told you should have left him conscious!" He gave her a death glare that seemed purple to me. Maybe I was still dizzy.

'Uchiha can hear you kit. And deactivate the nentougan. Uchiha is staring.'

'Butt out!'

Tsunade was talking again. "We have determined that you are indeed not trying to leave again." That got my attention.

"What? While I was unconscious? How is that possible?"

Tsunade seemed to snicker and shot a look at Naruto that said I told you. "Naruto."

I looked at Naruto, who looked like he was trying to melt into his chair. "Naruto what?"

"Naruto determined."

"How?" I looked at Naruto suddenly horrified that he had told Tsunade everything we said in the boarding room.

Tsunade smirked. "Since it seems Naruto has lost his tongue I guess I'll have to explain. Naruto has a very rare kekkai genki called nentougan."

My brain couldn't seem to process what she said. "Naruto. . . kekkai genki. . ." I manage to process all my thoughts into one word, "How?"

"He inherited it from is father," she said with a glance at Naruto. He looked like he was going to pass out.

"Who's Naruto's father?" Naruto's eyes glazed over.

"I'll leave him to tell you that."

"Okay. . . What is nentougan?"

"A variety of mind infiltrating techniques. I'm not sure how far Naruto has progressed. Naruto? NARUTO!" I turned towards Naruto again, he finally looked up.

"What?"

"How far has your nentougan progressed, gaki?"

"Oh. . . um," he stole a glance at me. "Torture."

"Naruto has progressed as far as being able to torture people. He can also plant false images into people's minds. Among other things." She paused here. "Are you training for the last stage yet?"

"Um. . . NO. I don't want it."

"You will." Naruto raised his eyebrows. "Back to the matters at hand. Sasuke, you will be under house arrest until your trial." She gave Naruto a look that I couldn't interpret. "You will only be allowed to leave with two ANBU members or Naruto." That was fine with me. Naruto was the only one I really wanted to see anyway.

"Naruto show Sasuke to his apartment."

"Hai."

"And then meet me back here. We have matters to discuss with Jiraya."

"Do I have to? I have to meet Kakashi at nine."

"Just be here."

"Fine! But don't expect me to be in a good mood. Especally if this is about what I think it's about."

"You aren't required to be in a good mood at my command, but I do expect you to be here, gaki."

"Come on Sasuke."


	3. Chapter 3

Sasuke's POV

I followed Naruto in silence for a while, trying to process everything that I'd heard. I probably should have been paying attention to where we were going, so I didn't get lost, but I had too much to think about at the moment. I wouldn't be able to go out alone for a while anyway.

I finally broke the silence with the only subject I thought that Naruto MIGHT talk about since I saw the way he looked when Tsunade mentioned his father. "When did you activate your kekkai genki?"

Naruto looked nonchalant. "Does it matter?"

"Hn."

"Back to monosyllables? I should have known that this wouldn't last."

"Hn."

"Fine. It was about six months after I left with Jiraya to. . . er. . . train." Naruto left it at that but Kyuubi was screaming at him to tell Sasuke about all the near death training he went through to bring Sasuke back.

"Jiraya said that he was surprised at first and he was mad at himself for not guessing my parentage." Naruto chuckled a little. "When it activated, I accidentally trapped Jiraya in it. He was paranoid for days. After he got over that he told me that it was unusual that my nentougan activated so early.

"Early?"

"Yeah. He said that it shouldn't have activated until I completed elementally recomposing a jutsu." Sasuke started to say something but Naruto cut him off. "Don't ask. I don't know why that is."

Sasuke sighed. "Did nentougan come from the Namikaze? Is that why Tsunade said she could call you Namikaze-san?"

"Yeah."

"But what happened to the Namikaze clan?"

"Killed," Naruto breathed.

"Oh." I wanted to ask how but I thought that might be insensitive.

Naruto's POV

I smirked when I saw Sasuke struggling not to ask how they were killed. "You can ask if you want."

Kyuubi spoke up at that. 'Of course you'd want him to ask that, Kit.'

'Whatever, Kyuu.'

'You want him to feel guilty about how mush he hurt you by going to that snake-teme.'

'Shut up.'

Sasuke put an end to this argument by asking the very question Kyuubi and Naruto were bickering about. "How were they killed?"

"Orochimaru."

"What?" Sasuke's eyes widened.

"A few months before the Kyuubi's attack on Konoha, Orochimaru tried to strike a deal with the Namikaze's. When they refused he killed the majority of them there. The ones that remained were killed when Orochimaru set the Kyuubi on Konoha. Including my father."

Naruto saw guilt slip into Sasuke's eyes and he sighed. The Kyuubi was right. I wanted this, so why do I feel bad about making Sasuke feel guilty?

"Don't be guilty. There's no way you could have known." They were quite for a few seconds as they walked up some stairs. They stopped in front of a door. Sasuke took note of the number, 201. (second floor, first room)

Naruto handed Sasuke a key. "Here we are." Sasuke opened the door and stepped into an apartment a bit bigger than Naruto's old one. Sasuke stopped. 'Assuming it was old.'

"Hey Naruto, do you still live in that same apartment?" Naruto shook his head.

"I have to go. Baa-chan will have a cow if I don't go back to the Hokage Tower."

Sasuke nodded. "Naruto? One more question." Sasuke had something that had been nagging at him since he got back. Seeing Naruto nod, he continued, "When did you find out I was back?" This was it. The moment he found out if Naruto had been avoiding seeing him.

"Today." Sasuke breathed a sigh of relief. "Why? How long have you been here?"

"Three weeks." Naruto's eyes widened.

"I have to go. See you."

"Hn."

***************At the Hokage's Office *****************

"I'm back Baa-chan. How could you keep Sasuke locked up for three weeks without telling me!?!"

"Sorry Naruto. We were testing him psychologically."

"Whatever."

"Hiya Naruto."

"Ero-sennin. What do you want? Let's get this done quick. I want to sleep!"

"Fine. I'll get straight to the chase." Tsunade said. "When Uchiha is finished with his house arrest, I want you two to go on a training trip with a Jiraya."

"Well this isn't what I thought this was about! Why?"

Jiraya answered this question. "Once upon a time, the combination of nentougan and sharingan was the strongest duo there was. If we put you two together, that's the best chance we have against Madara Uchiha and Akuatski."

"Okay. Does this mean that you think the council will let him free?"

"Your evidence was pretty convincing. I just got done listening to it."

"You can go sleep now, Naruto." Tsunade said.

"Hai."


	4. Chapter 4

Naruto walked into his apartment near the South Gate wanting to collapse in his bed, but when he saw Sakura leaning against his kitchen counter, he knew that wasn't going to be the case.

"Sakura, I'm kinda tired and I gotta meet Kakashi tomorrow."

"Okay, Naruto. I won't stay too late."

Naruto sighed. "You're not going to leave until I give you something, are you?"

"Naruto, you're not still mad about earlier, are you? Because I didn't mean it. I just really wanted to see Sasuke-kun and I wanted to be the first one he talked to."

"Sakura, this isn't about that. I'm just tired and my arm kinda hurts." Worry passed through Sakura's eyes.

"I'll look at your arm then." Sakura stepped forward and grabbed Naruto's arm. Both Sakura's hand and Naruto's arm were engulfed in aquamarine chakra. "The discomfort is a good thing. Your body is finally rebuilding the pathways that rasenshuriken destroyed. I'll give you some Vicoden to help you sleep. Your arm should be completely healed by morning."

"Sakura, do you still want to talk?" Naruto asked. He felt a little bit better now that the discomfort in his arm had dissipated.

Sakura nodded. "What's going on? Is Sasuke okay? When did he come back?"

Naruto chuckled. "I'm going to answer your questions in order. Sasuke has been placed under house arrest. Tsunade-baachan believes that he's trustworthy. And Sasuke arrived three weeks ago."

"Three WEEKS! And they just released him from his cell now?"

"Yeah. I was shocked when Sasuke told me too."

"Where is he? Uchiha Manor?"

"No. The Pine Cone Apartment Complex by the East Gate."

"Do you think I can see him? Would I be allowed to see him tomorrow? Would he let me in?"

"Why wouldn't he let you in?" Naruto regarded his pink-haired jounin friend. "Room 201."

"Thanks Naruto. You should get some sleep so you arm is healed for tomorrow. Kakashi isn't going to go easy on you."

Naruto sighed. "Yeah, I guess. Thanks for looking out for me, Sakura-CHAN!"

Sakura's eyebrow twitched. "I thought we were passed this."

"We are Sakura. We are. I was just messing with you. I think I'll need your medicine to sleep though. My arm is on fire!"

"Okay, here. Now sleep."

"Goodnight Sakura."

"Goodnight." Sakura left.

************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Sakura woke up early the next morning. She was nervous about seeing Sasuke again. She wanted to convince him that she was not a mindless fan girl anymore.

She glanced at the clock. Seven fifty-five. She got up to get ready. She needed to visit Sasuke before her shift at the hospital started at ten.

She started heading for the East Gate without really concentrating on where she was going. She was knocking on Sasuke's apartment door before she knew it.

Sasuke opened the door. Sakura's eyes widened. "Sasuke-kun..." The she lost her voice completely.

Sasuke smirked. "Expecting someone else?" When she still didn't say anything, he sighed. "Sakura did you want to come in?" She followed him into the apartment without saying anything.

"Your back," she said, finally getting her voice back.

"Hn."

"And, apparently, you haven't changed that much," she said, laughing.

His eyebrow twitched, "Hn."

"Okay, then. What do you want to know?"

"Anyone we know dead?" Sakura looked shocked. "What?" Sasuke asked.

"He. . . he didn't tell you?"

"Who?"

Sakura started cursing randomly. "That damn bastard! He should go to hell! Why? What did he gain? He didn't even broad cast it! DAMN IT!"

"Sakura? Are you okay?"

"Fine."

"Oh, yes, I'm sure all fine people curse at the air. It's completely normal. What was that about?"

"Chouji and Asuma are dead."

"What? How?"

"Asuma was killed fighting Hidan and Chouji... he. . ."

The look on Sakura's face scared Sasuke just a little. "What is it?"

"Orochimaru killed him."

"NANI?"

"Yeah. Like eight months ago. Me, Naruto, Shikamaru and Chouji were sent on an information gathering mission in one of Orochimaru's abandoned lairs. Apparently he didn't want us to know about his experiments, so he attacked us. The battle lasted hours." Sasuke was shocked. Just how strong had they gotten? He had never seen anyone last hours against Orochimaru. "Towards the end, Shikamaru passed out and I went to help him. Naruto used this distraction to paralyze Orochimaru. He should have died there!"

"What happened?"

"Naruto used rasenshuriken and," she stopped, seeing Sasuke's confused look. "It's an S-class forbidden jutsu of Naruto's own design." Again Sasuke was shocked. What had Naruto been doing that he came up with his own S-class forbidden jutsu? "Anyway, Kazu took the hit. Naruto's still paying the price or using that jutsu."

"What happened and who's Kazu?"

"Kazu WAS a spy sent by Orochimaru to infiltrate our village. He's dead. Naruto killed him that day. When Naruto's paralyzing jutsu wore off, Chouji got hit back the backlash of chakra. He was dead before he hit the ground. There was nothing I could do." Sakura looked upset. "If it wasn't for Naruto we all would have died."

"What did he do?" Sasuke was trying to figure out what power Naruto had that could match Orochimaru's.

"He used a Fuuton jutsu to give us cover and at the same time used a forbidden transportation jutsu to send us all to the Hokage's office. Except him. I don't know what he did or how he did it, but he managed to complete our mission and come back alive. It was the most amazing thing I have ever seen. It was because of that mission that Naruto was promoted to Captain."

"I didn't know."

"I didn't figure you did."

"Hn." Suddenly a huge crash was heard through the entire Hidden Leaf Village. "What was that!?!"

Sakura glanced at the clock. Nine thirty. "That would have been Naruto. I can't believe Kakashi was actually on time."

"Hn."

"Anyway, I have to go or I'll be late. See you!" Sakura disappeared in a puff of smoke.

**************************With Naruto*************

"You're not late Kakashi. I'm amazed."

Kakashi sighed. "I told you what I wanted to show you was important. I wouldn't gamble with your safety Naruto."

"My safety? What did you want to show me?"

"You remember when I first told you about elemental manipulation?" Naruto nodded. "What element is strong against wind?" Kakashi asked.

"Fire," Naruto answered automatically.

"Exactly, so I'm going to teach you to manipulate fire."

"I can already do that. We had to learn to use all the elements for our ANBU exams."

"You miss understand me. We are going to make fire your second element."

"That closes gaps in my techniques. Where wind fails I can use its opposing element: fire."

"Exactly. You're not THAT slow."

"Hey," Naruto pouted.

"Anyway, there is a second reason for choosing fire."

"And that is?"

"Making rasenshuriken safe."

"Come again?"

"When you choose fire as your second element, you will be able to coat you arm in Kation chakra before using rasenshuriken."

"I get it. The fuuton chakra from rasenshuriken will come in contact with the Katon chakra coating my arm, so it can't hurt my arm."

"Can you explain why?"

"Is this a test? Well, it's because the Fuuton chakra will make the Katon chakra stronger and be unable to penetrate it."

"Very good." Kakashi made many rapid hand seals and jabbed his hand against Naruto's chest. The resulting explosion could be felt through out Konoha.

"What did you do?" Naruto yelled.

"I selected Katon as you second element."

"You can do that? I thought it was predetermined."

"Usually it is, but I can select it because of your nentougan."

"Oh."

"You don't have to do element manipulation. When you choose you second element through nentougan the knowledge is automatic."

"Wow."

"Now use rasenshuriken on that tree." Naruto did and the tree collapsed with the slightest graze. "You already know some Katon jutsu from ANBU so we're done for today." Kakashi left.

Naruto smirked. 'Maybe I'll surprise the teme with a little Katon style body flicker. Nah, I'll get him in trouble if I do that while he's on house arrest."


	5. Chapter 5

Naruto was at the training grounds when he heard someone approaching. He spent the entire say there using nentougan to work on his Katon jutsu.

Naruto turned just in time to see Rock Lee approaching through the trees. "Hey Lee."

"Naruto, my youthful friend, what has you out here so late on this day?"

"Actually Lee, I was training and I just lost track of time. I think I'll head back now."

"See you then. I need to do seven hundred laps around the training grounds before morning. I promised Gai-sensei."

Naruto was long used to Lee and Gai's training methods. "Good luck, Lee. See you."

Naruto headed off through the trees at a moderate speed. He was lost in his own thoughts. During the middle of his training today, a crow from the Hokage's office had landed in front of him. The note attached informed Naruto that Sasuke's trial was in two days. Apparently they were rushing the trial date because they wanted to start training with nentougan and sharingan together as soon as possible.

The note made it seem like the council was planning to let Sasuke off the hook no matter what. Naruto couldn't figure out why it made him so mad that they only wanted Sasuke for his sharingan. He kept telling himself that he should be glad they were letting his best friend live, but he was still angry. He didn't even realize it when his feet took him to Sasuke's apartment. He did, however, become aware when Sasuke opened the door.

Naruto blinked as he heard the sound of knocking and, as he realized it was his fist knocking on the door, it was opened by an angry looking Sasuke.

"Sasuke, what's wrong?" Sasuke didn't answer. Instead, he dragged Naruto by the collar through the door and pinned him to the wall. "What. Is. Wrong. Sasuke." Naruto said through gritted teeth.

"How could you? How could you do that to me?" Sasuke glared.

"What did I do? What's going on?" Naruto was confused and slightly panicked. What could have happened to make Sasuke act like this?

Instead of answering directly, Sasuke chose to beat around the bush. "Do you know where I was today?"

The panic in Naruto's chest was growing. "Interrogation with Ibiki, ne?" Naruto asked nervously.

"Imagine my surprise when I hear the interrogators talking about long term replacements for Team Kakashi. And if that's not enough, that this was all your idea." Sasuke seemed to have used up all his anger and was left with only sadness and betrayal. "I thought we were friends. Why would you want to replace a 'friend'?"

Naruto was shocked that Sasuke had found out about that and even more shocked that he had jumped to the wrong conclusion. "Sasuke, that's not what happened."

Sasuke looked up. There was the barest hint of hope in his eyes. He seemed to be protecting it. Sasuke couldn't understand why Naruto had such a hold over him, but he didn't want to be crushed by it.

Naruto was horrified that Sasuke actually thought he was capable of such backstabbing betrayal. He had promised him that they were still friends, hadn't he? Naruto's eye's held Sasuke's. "I was talking about a trip we might end up taking with a certain perverted sannin as your punishment. You didn't hear that from me by the way. The replacements were for open spots that would leave on the squad. Silly teme. I wouldn't do that to you."

Sasuke let go of Naruto and dropped back onto the couch. Naruto went to sit next to him. "You okay?"

"Sorry," Sasuke whispered. "I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions."

Naruto stared Sasuke for a minute. "It's okay." Naruto would have said more, but he didn't want to put Sasuke through anymore pain today. "I said we were still friends, ne? So that's what we are."

'But is that what you want, kit?'

'Stay out of this, Kyuubi! Of course I want Sasuke around!'

'That's not what I asked though. Do you want him around as your *friend* or something else?'

'SHUT UP!' Naruto shoved Kyuubi into the deepest corner of his mind.

Silence ensued for a long time. Surprisingly, it was Sasuke who broke it and not Naruto. "What were you doing this morning that shook the whole village, dobe?"

"He, he. So you heard that."

"You'd be hard pressed to find anyone who didn't."

"I was working on my second element manipulation."

"Hn."

"Whatever." Naruto looked at Sasuke. He still looked a little upset. Naruto had to fight the impulse reaction to pull Sasuke into his arms and tell him that it was all going to be okay. 'What the hell is wrong with me?' Naruto thought. 'Sasuke is my best friend. I can't want him like that.' Naruto drew the conclusion that his reaction was only because his teme usually didn't show emotions. It looked so wrong to see him like this.

'Wait. . . did I just think of Sasuke as "my" teme?' "AGH!"

Sasuke was now staring at Naruto. "Um, Naruto?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you okay?"

Naruto turned red. 'Crap, did I yell out loud?'

'Kinda, kit.'

'Go away. I wasn't talking to you.'

'Oh, I see. You were talking to one of the other voices in your head.' The Kyuubi cackled as he faded away.

"Um, yeah. I just need some sleep. Didn't sleep very well last night. I should probably go home. Bye, teme!"

Sasuke stared after him. 'Well that was odd. Even for Naruto.'

'I better go home before I do something I'll regret.' Naruto thought.


	6. Chapter 6

Naruto made up his mind to stay away from Sasuke for a while. He couldn't afford to mess up his friendship with Sasuke because he let some of his confusion about his feelings to Sasuke show through to the surface. 'Why am I so confused about Sasuke?'

'You're not confused kit, and we both know it. You are just in denial.'

'In denial about what? Why do you think you know everything about me?'

'Duh kit. I've been sharing a body with you since the day you were born. I think I understand you pretty well.' Kyuubi was chuckling.

'Don't avoid the question! What does this mean? Why do I feel like this?'

'Are you really that dense? I know your idiot act is faked, so figure this out.'

'. . .'

'I'll give you a hint. It starts with an L and ends in "ove".'

'You're insane, fox.'

'And you're in denial.'

'Whatever.'

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The next two days passed slowly for Sasuke without Naruto around. If Sasuke was honest with himself, he might even have admitted that he missed Naruto, but he wouldn't have admitted that out loud for anyone.

Sasuke couldn't understand what he did that Naruto would avoid him like this and he didn't exactly have the liberty to hunt Naruto down and ask him.

'Oh well,' Sasuke thought. 'I'll see him today at the trial. He wouldn't miss that, would he?'

A tapping on the door brought Sasuke out of his thoughts. It was insane foe him to be disappointed when he opened the door and it wasn't Naruto waiting for him on the other side. Two ANBU were waiting for him instead.

"Uchiha-san, we are here to escort you to the Hokage building for your trial." Sasuke merely nodded and allowed them to lead him there. They took him to a room in the Hokage building that he had never been in before.

"Uchiha-san, you will wait in this room until someone comes to take you through that door," the ANBU pointed to the second door in the room, "for your trial."

"Hai." The two ANBU left Sasuke alone.

'Naruto's not going to come and see me before I go in there?' Sasuke thought. He didn't know why but it felt like someone was dragging a sheet of cold metal through his chest.

At that moment Shizune came to take Sasuke in. The council members sat at the front table with the clan heads, who were obviously acting as judges. Sasuke scanned the room for the one face he really wanted to see. No clear blue eyes or blond hair that could rival the sun met his searching gaze. This depressed him. It seemed like every other person he knew in Konoha had showed up.

Sasuke was hardly paying attention to the testimony until he heard Naruto's voice ringing through the room. Had his blond friend showed up after all? Naruto's voice was followed almost immediately by his own. He realized that they were playing a recording of his conversation with Naruto in the board room. Sasuke was shocked. Naruto recorded this? He paled.

He barely heard the verdict; he was so distracted. They let him free. Another small piece of punishment registered in his mind: nentougan/sharingan training. The dobe was right after all.

Naruto. . . That was the first thing he was going to do. Track down Naruto.

People began filing out; the trial was over. Sasuke was free. Tsunade came up to him.

"Uchiha, I expect you to be in my office at two o'clock tomorrow afternoon. We need to decide what rank to reinstate you at."

"Yes, Tsunade-sama."

"Looking for Naruto?" Sasuke looked shocked. Was it that obvious? "You're predictable. Go find him, but don't be too hard on him about the recording. I asked him to do that."

Sasuke just nodded. Tsunade left also. Sasuke went into the street and started searching for Naruto's chakra signature. It was surprisingly easy to find. The dobe was making no attempt to hide it.

Sasuke headed off in pursuit. He found Naruto in the middle of the forest destroying the landscape. Naruto was standing in the middle of a crater that was a half mile across.

As he started to approach, Jiraya popped up in front of Naruto. Naruto didn't even flinch. "Go away, Jiraya! You are the last person I want to see right now!"

Jiraya ignored Naruto's warning. "Still trying to bury yourself I see." Naruto sighed. "You should be happy. Your nentougan training is now finished."

"Yes, I'm overjoyed. Killing with a glance has always been my dream."

Jiraya looked mildly surprised. "You're not upset about the nentougan."

"No. I'm not. Just go away." Jiraya left. Sasuke waited a few seconds before approaching.

"Naruto?"

"Teme."

"Where the hell have you been, Naruto? I haven't seen you for two days and you didn't show up this morning."

Naruto laughed bitterly. "I knew how this morning would turn out anyway. That was one train wreck I didn't need to witness. It would be repetitive and ludicrous to sit through it a second time."

'Kit, your mask is slipping.'

"What are you talking about?" 'Since when does Naruto know words like repetitive and ludicrous?'

"I don't know. I just don't know anymore." Naruto looked so . . . vulnerable. Sasuke felt the breaking feeling in his chest again. "I'm sorry. I should have been there for you. I know the council can be pretty intimidating. Sorry."

Sasuke couldn't keep up his impervious act anymore. He pulled Naruto into a hug. "It's okay. It's fine. Just don't do it again. I missed you."

That's right. Uchiha Sasuke admitted something he had swore he wouldn't admit out loud. Where would they go from here?

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	7. Chapter 7

Naruto tried to ignore the feeling being held by Sasuke was giving him. His efforts were futile. Sasuke made him feel so warm, so protected. He could have been content to stand there like that forever.

Little known to Naruto, Sasuke was experiencing some of the same feelings. He could have held Naruto forever. It felt so right. Sasuke smiled softly. God he loved Naruto . . . Wait, what? Sasuke was confused but, the minute he thought that, he knew it was true.

He loved Naruto. Uchiha Sasuke was in love with Uzumaki Naruto.

It was slightly surreal. He had never loved anyone since the death of his clan. His clan . . . Naruto could not help him to revive his clan. But . . . did it matter? There was no way he could revive a whole clan anyway, and he LOVED Naruto. What could trump that?

Naruto broke Sasuke's train of thought. "Thanks. Sorry to . . . er . . . break down like that."

Sasuke released him. "No problem."

"So teme, you haven't trained in a while, huh?" Sasuke did the math; it had been more than a month. Naruto, seeing confirmation on Sasuke's face, continued. "Wanna spar?"

Sasuke smirked. "In the mood to lose, dobe?" He was no where near as confident as he tried to seem. After hearing about Naruto's battle with Orochimaru, he was eager to find out about Naruto's new abilities.

A mischievous glint appeared in Naruto's eyes. "Okay, let's spar. It's not like we don't have enough room." He glanced meaningfully at the half mile crater.

"Whatever." Sasuke jumped back, so he and Naruto stood facing each other, ten feet apart. "Go," Sasuke said. Sharingan and Nentougan activated instantaneously.

Sasuke dropped into a fighting stance while Naruto stood completely open to attacks. Sasuke raised his eyebrows. "Waiting for the grass to grow?" Sasuke asked. With that he lunged at Naruto.

When he came to a stop, Sasuke was surprised to find himself on the other side of Naruto while Naruto appeared not to have moved. He tried again, this time with a different tactic.

His hands flew threw hand signs faster than a normal person could see. "Lightning Style: Static Tracker." This battle was over. No matter how hard Naruto tried, he would not be able to escape the Tracker. It wasn't given its name for nothing. The jutsu was on target and it would follow Naruto no matter how fast he moved.

The ball was going to hit him; there wasn't even any time to move. Suddenly, Naruto was gone and the ball crashed into the side of the crater.

Out of the blue, Naruto's voice was directly behind Sasuke. "You shouldn't have underestimated me, teme." His voice was barely above a whisper. "You're going to have to do better if you want to win." Sasuke jumped, trying to get out of Naruto's range when. . .

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Naruto was having fun watching Sasuke fight an invisible enemy. Sasuke had been trapped in Naruto's nentougan since it had originally activated. He was lunging around blindly, having no concept of reality. If anyone stumbled across this scene, they would think Sasuke insane.

Naruto was amused by all of this until he saw one of Sasuke's blind lunges was taking him headfirst into the edge of the crater.

"Sasuke! No!" But it was too late. Sasuke hit his head on the rock-face and fell to the ground unconscious.

Naruto ran towards him. "Sasuke, no. Wake up. Pleas, wake up."

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Sasuke's eyes opened slowly. He was on a bed somewhere he didn't recognize. He looked around the room. It was a soft green color. Naruto walked into the room carrying a cup.

"So you're awake," Naruto said softly. "Drink this. It will clear your head."

Sasuke sat up, a little unsteadily, and took the cup from Naruto. His head was clear as soon as he drank, as Naruto had predicted. The dull ache in his head was also eased.

"What happen?" Sasuke asked. "Where are we?"

"You ran into a rock and this is my apartment," Naruto answered softly. "I'm sorry."

"I ran into a rock? I don't remember seeing a rock," Sasuke said suspiciously.

"No. I'm sorry. You were in one of my illusions and you didn't see what was really there. If I was paying better attention, this wouldn't have happened. Sorry," Naruto said guiltily.

"It was all an illusion?"

"Yeah. Sorry." Naruto said. Not only was Sasuke probably upset that he lost, but he was probably furious that Naruto steered him into a rock.

"It's fine, Naruto." Naruto looked up, surprised. "Out of curiosity, why did you bring me here and not to Sakura or the hospital?"

A peculiar shade of pink tinted Naruto's face. "In the ANBU exams, we had to learn first aid and basic medical jutsu and I figured you'd rather not go to see a medic if you could avoid it."

'Don't kid yourself, Kit. You didn't want anyone else's hands on him.'

'Shut up!!!'

Sasuke put an end to this silent squabble by saying something shocking. "Thank you."

Naruto froze. Sasuke was thanking him? "N-no problem."

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Sorry this took so long. *dodges tomatoes and various other projectiles* I changed ideas in the middle. Review and I'll update faster. *wink*

**I own nothing but the plot.**


	8. Chapter 8

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The day after Sasuke's and Naruto's spar, Sasuke knocked on the Hokage's door at two P.M. sharp. There was no answer. Sasuke wasn't quite sure what to do. He was debating whether or not to go in anyway when Naruto, Neji and a woman Sasuke didn't recognize came up behind him.

They took one look at Sasuke standing in front of the door and understood the situation. "Don't tell me, that old hag is asleep again isn't she?" Naruto grumbled. A mischievous glint appeared in his eye. "Shh."

Naruto opened the door softly and beckoned them inside. As they followed, Naruto shut the door without a sound. He tiptoed up to Tsunade, who had her head resting on a pile of paperwork, and shook her softly.

He made his voice sugary-sweet and whispered, "Tsunade, Tsunade. Wake up, Tsunade. Jiraya's here. He's waiting for you. He wants you, but he won't wait for ever Tsunade."

To Sasuke's surprise, Tsunade's head shot up immediately. Naruto, Neji and the woman snickered. "What were you dreaming about to make your face so red baachan?"

Tsunade's head flew in Naruto's direction. Apparently she didn't realize it was Naruto who woke her up, though, because she turned back towards the clock. "Yes, two o'clock. I remember. I summoned you all here. But where's Jiraya?"

This brought a fresh round of snickers. "Baachan? Ero-sennin's not here."

"Yes, I can see that gaki, but I summoned him here too." Jiraya jumped in the window at that exact moment. "You're late."

Jiraya winked at Naruto. "I was watching the show."

Sasuke was shocked. Tsunade and Jiraya?

"Well, I'm sure you know why we're here. We are going to determine which rank to reinstate Sasuke at." She glanced around the room to stare at each person present. "We are going to start with a series of tests. Uchiha, you'll be having a mock battle with Neji and Naruto. They understand the requirements you must meet. Be aware that this test is far more in depth than the regular exams would be." Sasuke gave a slight nod. He had expected something along these lines. "Also, we can't place you at a rank higher than Jounin, as the ANBU exams require much more than we can test on." Another nod.

Jiraya picked up where Tsunade left off. "Tsunade and I will be your main judges, though, we will also take into consideration Naruto and Neji's opinion as they will be the ones actually fighting." He paused. "This is Shina," he said, indicating the dark haired woman.

Everyone seemed to realize that this meant nothing to Sasuke so Naruto took pity on him and explained. "Her name is Shina. She's an analyst. She works in ANBU, making sure members are up to rank. She dictates if you remain at rank or are dropped."

"Yes, she's here to help analyze you abilities," Tsunade said. "We'll be holding the fights in the dome."

Sasuke looked confused. "Where we had that first Chuunin Exam in," Naruto whispered. 'Oh,' Sasuke mouthed.

"Well, come on," Tsunade said, already at the window. "We'll cover anything else there is to say when we get there."

"Oi, Baachan!" Naruto yelled, following Tsunade out the window. "You can't give me grief for using the window anymore, you old hypocrite."

"The day you beat me in a fight, I'll let you use the window, gaki."

"What makes you think that day hasn't already come?" Naruto asked cockily. Sasuke followed them with small smile. Naruto and Tsunade continued bantering all the way to the dome.

Tsunade, Jiraya, Shina, and Naruto all took front row seats in the otherwise empty dome. "You'll be fighting Neji first. Any questions?" Sasuke's only answer was falling into a fighting stance.

Neji smirked. "Nice to have you back Uchiha. I was starting to think I'd never see the day."

"Hn."

"Go," came Tsunade's call. Sasuke disappeared.

"Have you forgotten about the byacugan Uchiha?" Neji asked, tracking Sasuke's position.

Sasuke knew he wasn't fast enough to go unseen by the Hyuuga's byacugan but his spar with Naruto had given him an idea. If he could use his sharingan to cast a strong enough genjutsu, it just might be able to fool Neji. Of course a regular genjutsu wouldn't be enough to pose any threat but Orochimaru hadn't trained him for nothing.

**A/N: I KNOW! I'm a terrible person for stopping the chapter here! I have a good excuse though! *ducks behind the computer chair* I'm going on vacation until March 1****st****. I don't know if I'll be able to update while I'm gone, so I wanted to post what I had done for all of you loyal readers. (I'd love for you to review too.)**

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	9. Chapter 9

Sasuke was getting tired of constantly dodging. So far, there hadn't been much of an opening for him to use his genjutsu. Not only was the fight tiring, but Sasuke was getting tired. They had been constantly moving for nearly two hours now. Would the damn Hyuuga never tire? The whole time, Sasuke had been preparing the exact amount of chakra needed to perform the genjutsu that he hoped would fool the Hyuuga's byacungan. Now he was ready and he didn't have an opening. GAH! Sasuke was going to go insane, it was as simple as that!

He glanced over towards the stands. Jiraya seemed amused by Sasuke's lack of progress. Tsunade looked bored. (She probably wants sake, was Sasuke's thought.) Shina's look was merely calculating. Naruto, on the other hand was a different matter entirely. His eyes shone and he looked genuinely excited. Sasuke smiled slightly. Neji caught this.

The fight momentarily slowed down. Neji's voice was mocking but soft enough that no one other than Sasuke would hear him. "You like what you see, Uchiha?" Sasuke stared at him scrutinizingly. "Don't go anywhere near him. Not like that. He can't take that from you too. Maybe he could once but you lost your chance when you left him behind."

Sasuke glanced towards Naruto. Neji followed suit. "Not now," he muttered. Neji's attention was momentarily diverted and it gave Sasuke all the opportunity he needed. He knew it was underhanded and a dirty trick but Neji had just pushed past his level of tolerance. At the release of his chakra, Neji's eyes got cloudy. He didn't need anyone to lecture him on how much he hurt Naruto. He already knew. He ALREADY KNEW!!

Sasuke's anger spark another massive release of chakra. This forced the jutsu farther onto Neji than he had originally intended. Neji swayed and then collapsed. "Shit," Sasuke swore. That wasn't what he intended at all. Tsunade, being the medic-nin, moved to Neji's side, checking his condition. Naruto, however, reacted differently. Sasuke was his target.

He put his hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "Quite a fight. Congratulations."

Sasuke's head was beginning to spin. He made a real effort to focus on the conversation. He shook his head. "All I did was dodge."

Naruto snorted. "You really underestimate yourself, don't you?" He shook his head. "You should have seen yourself. You moved like you were made to be on the battle field. Graceful. Not to mention that some of those dodges were almost impossible. Don't sell yourself short."

Sasuke let a ghost of a smile appear on his face, ignoring his spinning head for the moment. "Thanks." Reality was beginning to escape Sasuke. His voice got softly. "I didn't mean . . . for it to end that way." Sasuke's voice faded out as his legs gave out.

Naruto's strong arms reached out to catch him. Naruto yelling for Tsunade was the last thing he heard before the universe faded to black.

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"Sasuke. . . Sasuke, wake up! It's the middle of the day, not time to sleep," Sasuke heard a soft voice whispered. His eyelids fluttered. He tried hard to keep them open. "Welcome back to the world of the living."

"Naruto," Sasuke whispered.

Naruto smiled. "Why is it that every time you get in a fight lately, you end up passing out?" Sasuke ignored him and took in his surroundings, the too white walls, the smell of antiseptic. The hospital then. Sasuke couldn't help but compare the horrible smell of the hospital to the smell that clung to Naruto's bed. Naruto's was soo much better.

"The hospital," Sasuke stated plainly.

"Yeah, not much I could do this time. I mean with Tsunade right there and all." At that moment, Tsunade walked in the door. Speak of the devil and she shall appear.

"Good to see you awake Sasuke." Sasuke nodded nonchalantly. "Time to get down to business then. Has your curse mark been bothering you?"

Sasuke shook his head. "No. Why?"

"The best I can tell is that Orochimaru is trying to punish you for escaping through the curse mark and that coupled with the massive chakra discharged that ended the battle, caused you to pass out."

Sasuke frowned. "I haven't felt anything."

"I figured as much. It seems his newest strategy is to break you down slowly." Tsunade paused. "Sasuke. . . He could kill you this way."

**Again- - I'm a horrible, horrible person for ending this here. But, in my defense, this is a curve ball that even I didn't see coming. I do know where I'm going with this, though, and don't worry. I won't kill Sasuke off just yet. That would kind of destroy the point of the story. **

**A small request while your reviewing: It seems my summary is a little out of date with the current plot line. Anyone who has any helpful ideas, just drop me a note.**


	10. Chapter 10

Sasuke froze. He couldn't move, couldn't think.

_'He could kill you.' _

_'Kill you.' _

_'Kill you.' _

_'Kill.' _

_'Kill.' _

_'Kill.'_

He wasn't ready to die. There was so much he hadn't done. So much he still wanted to do. "How long?" he whispered hoarsely. He glanced over to Naruto. Had she already told him this? His face remained impassive, probably from his ANBU training to hide his emotions.

"That depends."

Sasuke clung onto that sliver of hope. "Depends on what?"

"What you choose to do about it."

Sasuke was about to ask what she was talking about, but Naruto cut him off. "Come on old woman! Stop being cryptic about it! Just tell him the damn options already!"

Tsunade glared at him. "Brat! Fine your first option is to do nothing. For that, I give you three months, maybe a half of a year."

"That's more than I would give him." Tsunade gave him a surprised look. "I looked at the seal myself. Based on what Jiraya taught me about seals, if the rate of strain continues, I give him maybe two months. That's if he's lucky." Sasuke's expression became alarmed. At least he knew Naruto wouldn't lie to him now. "I respect your opinion, Tsunade, but I'm also a realist and I know drastically more about seals than you do."

Tsunade nodded. "That's probably right, then. That's not your only option, Sasuke. No need to panic yet. Your second option is having Kakashi strengthen the seal that already exists. This could push the amount of time you have left to three to four years." Sasuke prayed that there was another option. "There are some drawbacks to this method, however. You won't be able to feel anything from the seal, so we won't be able to check and see how the damage is progressing. That means you could die randomly with no warning at all." She paused. "What, no comments on this one Naruto?"

He shrugged. "You told it right."

Tsunade sighed. "There is another option, but it is drastically more painful and dangerous."

Sasuke took a deep breath. "What is it?"

"It involves Naruto." Tsunade watched him carefully for a reaction. He showed none. "Naruto has enough precision to close the cursed seal off completely, but that poses the same problem as the second option. Naruto could use his nentougan to enter your mind. You'd have to let him in willingly of course or the strain could be too much for him. Once inside, if he can get into the center of your brain that controls your chakra points, he can shut down the chakra point in your left shoulder. This is a very dangerous method because of the chakra point's proximity to your spine. If he's off by a single centimeter, he could paralyze you. If he was successful, however, that would be the end of your problem. Nothing more to worry about."

Sasuke looked at Naruto. "Could you do it?"

Naruto hesitated. "You have to understand, I've never tried it on someone who I wanted to survive before, but I've used the technique to paralyze opponents before. I know the boundaries pretty well. If you're willing, I'll do it."

Sasuke and Naruto's eyes connected. _ 'I need help. There was no one I'd rather have watching my back than you.'_

"I choose the third option," Sasuke said.

Tsunade smiled to herself. "I thought you might."

**I'm back from the dead! Yes! Okay, so I know this chapter is below my usual minimum (I usually keep them at least 700 words.), but I needed to get the point across about Sasuke's decision. The next chapter will be about how Sasuke's um . . . 'treatment' went and I promise I'll try to sick more to my usual minimum. **


	11. Chapter 11

Sasuke shivered at the temperature of the dark room. It was cold but not all together uninviting. It was oddly familiar, but he couldn't recall ever being here before. The candlelight from the candles along the walls cast eerie shadows around the room. He glanced around anxiously.

Tsunade had escorted him here without a word. If it weren't for the fact that they were walking through the hospital and there was a noticeable amount of witnesses around, he would have thought they were taking him somewhere to kill him, with all the silence and gloom and doom and what not. It was possible that the absence of Naruto with them contributed to this conclusion. Where was the blonde dobe?

Apparently Tsunade was thinking along a similar line. "Where is that gaki?" she muttered. "Even after having Kakashi as a sensei he is never late!" She groaned. "I suppose, while we're waiting for the idiot, I should explain to you what's going to happen, ne? Naruto has to seal the curse mark off completely before he shuts it down. This means it will be a very expensive seal."

Sasuke frowned. "I thought you said just sealing it off wouldn't work."

"It won't, but if Naruto enters your mind with the seal still active, Orochimaru could sense him and overload you with his chakra, killing Naruto instantly." Sasuke stayed quiet; that was the last thing he wanted.

Before Tsunade got the chance to comment further on the impending treatment, a loud crash sounded in the hallway. Shrieks from the nurses and other female patients in the hallway cut through the air. Through the door they heard a voice. "Whoa Ladies! As much as I'd love to stay and chat, I'm here on business and I have work to do!"

A sharp whine was heard through the door. "How could you not have time for me? I've heard some amazing things about you from the doctor here and I just want to discuss them with you."

A forced laugh was heard through the door before it banged open and immediately shut. A blond blur settled in front of Tsunade, panting. "Do something about Sakura?" it growled.

Tsunade burst out laughing. "What would you like me to do? Forbid her from talking to her patients?"

"How about just talking about _me_ in general?"

"What is going on?" Sasuke cut in, looking between Tsunade and Naruto.

"I'll tell you lat--"

Tsunade cut Naruto off. "It seems Sakura enjoys talking about some of Naruto's more dangerous missions with her patients. They seem to develop quite the case of admiration for him. Sakura thinks he needs a girlfriend."

Sasuke fought to stop the irrational swell of anger that built up at hearing that. Naruto was not his and he had no right to be possessive of him. "Hn."

Naruto cocked an eyebrow. Wisely he chose not to comment. "Shall we get started?" Sasuke gave a slight nod. "Baa-chan? Don't you have some Hokage-stuff to do?" She gave him an amused smile and left the room. Naruto lead Sasuke to the center of the room. "Kneel down," he whispered. To Naruto's surprise, Sasuke did as he was told.

He slipped a kunai out of his pack and grabbed Sasuke's hand. He felt Sasuke tense. "Relax," he whispered. "I don't want to hurt you." A warm shiver traveled down Sasuke's spine. The kunai tip was pressed into Sasuke's palm. Naruto paused, making sure Sasuke wasn't going to jerk away from him.

"What are you doing?" Sasuke asked in a low voice. Naruto sighed. He could have explained exactly what he was doing right from the start, but he enjoyed the trust Sasuke was showing in him.

"I just need your blood for the seal teme. Relax and let me do my job?" It came out like an order, but Sasuke heard the question in it. He nodded. The kunai tip broke the skin and Naruto watched Sasuke's blood drip into the bowl on the floor. When there appeared to be an adequate amount in the bowl, Naruto removed the knife and allowed a small amount of chakra to pass from him to Sasuke, effectively closing the wound. Sasuke sighed softly. Naruto realized just how hard it was for Sasuke to blindly trust a person. "I'm sorry you have to blindly trust me like this."

Sasuke's eyes snapped to Naruto's. "Trusting you has always been easy, like breathing."

Naruto moved to stand behind him. He dipped the brush in Sasuke's blood. The complex seal that he traced onto Sasuke's skin took hours to complete. When he was finally done, he let out a bated breath. He knew the worst was yet to come. He grabbed a scalpel. "Sasuke, this is going to hurt like hell, but I need you to trust me. Try not to move."

Sasuke nodded uncertainly. Naruto pushed the scalpel into the curse mark. Sasuke gasped. The curse mark was always a sensitive area and this was torture. "I'm sorry," Naruto whispered.

Naruto had to carve the exact lines of the curse mark into Sasuke's skin. Anesthetic was impossible because it would interfere with closing off the chakra point. As soon as he was finished, he forced his chakra into Sasuke's system to activate the seal, not wanting to prolong his best friend's pain.

Sasuke let out a strangled cry. Naruto knew if he was a lesser person, he would be screaming. Stars danced across Sasuke's vision. Naruto seemed to sense this. "Come on Sasuke," he said soothingly. "You need to stay conscious. For me." In a desperate motion to ease the pain he was feeling, Sasuke whirled around and clutched himself desperately to Naruto. If Naruto was surprised by the sudden action, he didn't show it. He wrapped his arms around Sasuke's and held him there, doing what little he could to help him. "I'm sorry, so sorry. We'll get through this. I'm not going anywhere. Shh."

Gradually, the pain left him and he shook softly in Naruto's arms. "I'm so sorry Sasuke." Sasuke shook his head and held on tighter to Naruto. It was the best he could do at this point to reassure Naruto that this wasn't his fault. "I need to start the next part Sasuke."

"O-okay," he said shakily. Sasuke started to move away.

"You don't have to," Naruto said.

"W-what?"

"All you have to do is look at me and trust me. You don't have to move away." Sasuke relaxed himself into Naruto's arms and looked into Naruto's hypnotic purple eyes, willing himself with all his might to let Naruto into his mind, so that he wouldn't hurt him, because that was never his intention. He felt himself relax and collapse entirely into Naruto's arms.

%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%

Entering Sasuke's mind was a terrifying experience for Naruto. 'What ifs' ran through his mind over and over again. What if he couldn't find the right chakra point to close off? What if he was off by centimeters? What if he paralyzed Sasuke? What if he panicked? What if he choked?

Naruto tried to banish such thoughts from his mind. He promised Sasuke he would get him through this and thoughts like that weren't helping. He shook as he entered the center of Sasuke's brain that controlled his chakra. He wouldn't allow himself to fail.

He allowed his instinct to guide him to the correct panel. Shutting down the chakra point was one of the hardest things he ever had to do and one of the most necessary. He wouldn't let the damn snake end his best friends life.

$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$

Sasuke felt it when the chakra point below the seal began to shut down. It felt like his shoulder was dying. He began to drift back to consciousness at this point. He saw Naruto over him and he could still feel Naruto's arms around him.

Sasuke lifted an arm to squeeze Naruto's shoulder. The blackness began to eat at his vision again. A garbled 'thank you' escaped his lips before the blackness claimed him again.


	12. Chapter 12

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Sasuke's eyes opened slowly to reveal a hospital room that was becoming all too familiar. He struggled to sit up. It felt like his body weighed a thousand pounds. Each movement was a struggle. Until a pair of strong arms reached out to help him that was.

"Naruto," he whispered.

"Hey," Naruto breathed back, detached. Sasuke frowned. What was wrong?

"What's going on, dobe?" Sasuke struggled to get some response from Naruto. "Is everything okay? Please talk to me," he added in a quieter voice.

The door banged open. "That's what we're here to ask you, Uchiha." Tsunade entered the room quickly and business-like. To Sasuke's disappointment, Naruto pulled away from him. "Any pain or difficulty moving?"

"No pain," Sasuke muttered, "But I feel really heavy. I can barely move."

Tsunade nodded seriously. "That's to be expected. I seal your chakra system off so we could check the function of your chakra pathways, minus one chakra point. It's only natural that your body wouldn't be used to operating with the absence of chakra."

Sasuke nodded slowly. "What kinds of tests are needed?"

He had been looking at Naruto but Tsunade answered him. "We just need to make sure your chakra system works normally and the chakra skips over the inactive point in your shoulder and can still be fed through to your left hand."

Sasuke stared at the blond man in the room bewildered and hurt. What happened to him? This certainly wasn't _Naruto!_ "Hn. What do you want me to do?"

"Well, I'm going to unseal your chakra system and then you're going to make sure you can still run chakra through to your hand. That's all."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Hn." Tsunade made quick work of unsealing the chakra and Sasuke shuddered at the feeling. He nervously ran chakra through his arm and sighed in relief. "It's fine. Just will take some getting used to."

Tsunade nodded. "You'll have time to get used to it when you're out with Jiraya. We've decided that the rest of the tests aren't necessary. We've seen enough to reinstate you at Jounin." With that said, she briskly left the room.

Sasuke's eyes fixated themselves on the blond remaining in the room. "Naruto?"

"You're okay?" Naruto asked in a thick voice. Sasuke nodded, struck dumb. Naruto's eyes met his. They were swirling with suppressed emotion and relief. "Thank Kami-sama," he whispered. He reached out hesitantly to hug Sasuke. "You didn't wake up when I called you like you did before," he whispered. "I thought I'd hurt you."

Sasuke slowly returned his hug. "I'm okay thanks to you. You didn't hurt me. _And_ the pain of the sealing was worth it."

"Sasuke," Naruto whispered into his shoulder.

'Tell him,' a voice in Sasuke's head whispered. 'Tell him how much you want him.'

"Naruto I. . ." Unfortunately the door chose that moment to bang open.

"Sasuke-kun," a voice screeched. Naruto pulled away as if he had been electrocuted. Both pairs of eyes turned to see Ino in the doorway; onyx eyes annoyed and cerulean eyes embarrassed. "I'm going to be the nurse that checks you out of the hospital. Isn't that great!!!" Somehow both men in the room knew that wasn't a question.

"I-I didn't know you were a nurse Ino," Sasuke mumbled, still irritated.

"Of course! You didn't think I'd be useless forever, did you?" Ino said cheerfully. Ino began the necessary paperwork to discharge Sasuke. Naruto moved away from the bed and towards the door to give Ino access to Sasuke. "All the paperwork is in order, courtesy of my sensei _Tsunade-sama herself, _so you just need to sign here."

"Hn." Sasuke rapidly put his signature on the paper, eager to get away from Ino. He didn't have the energy for this right now.

Ino leaned in closer than necessary to take the clipboard back. "I became strong for you Sasuke-kun," she whispered lowly before claiming his lips.

Sasuke was too stunned to move. Ino pulled back with a deluded version of a satisfied smirk on her face. "Everything's in order, Sasuke-kun. You're free to go." She disappeared from the room.

When Sasuke came out or his stupor, Naruto was not in the room. Sasuke's eyes widened. Where did he go? "Wait," he whispered much, much too late. "I wanted to tell you. . . Naruto. . ."

Sasuke stood up unsteadily, hands gripping onto the side of the bed until he was sure he wouldn't fall over. He had never felt more alone then in that moment. He had been so close . . .

His clothes were laid out on a chair next to his bed. He changed mechanically and left the hospital. By the time he got to his apartment, he shook it off and became his usual stoic self. After all, he would have an unprecedented amount of time with Naruto when they left for training.

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I know that this took too long. Even I hate myself for this. So sorry.


	13. Chapter 13

Sasuke stood at the gates the next morning alone. He was meant to meet Jiraya and Naruto here at eight but it was now eight-thirty and neither man had shown up. If it hadn't been for all his training as a genin with Kakashi showing up constantly late, he wasn't sure how he would have reacted. But, as it was, he had developed a renowned level of patience.

The minutes continued to tick by. Ten minutes shy of nine o'clock Jiraya popped into existence next to him. "Ready to go?"

Sasuke frowned. "But Naruto --" Sasuke had been about to say that Naruto wasn't there yet, but Jiraya cut him off.

"He's right over there," Jiraya said, nodding toward the shadow of the outside of the gate. "Aren't you supposed to be good? You should have seen him when you arrived." Sasuke grunted non-commentally, hurt that Naruto hadn't come over to talk to him.

~~~With Naruto~~~

Naruto had been standing at the designated meeting place when he had seen Sasuke coming around the bed. He was contemplating what to say to him after how he had rudely deserted him at the hospital. He didn't know what to do. In the end, he had simply acted impulsively and moved to a place he knew Sasuke wouldn't look for him.

He moved into the shadows and held perfectly still, knowing that people tended to see what they expected to see. He knew the key to remaining unseen was being motionless. Without his bright orange clothes which he had abandoned a few years ago, he was almost guaranteed invisible.

He closed his eyed and leaned against the wall, trying to decipher the strange, painful feeling he had felt when Ino had --

The only emotion that could possibly compute was jealousy, but to Naruto it didn't make sense. He had never had a claim on Sasuke, he had never attempted to, so he had no right to condemn Ino for attempting to stake a claim.

He was still trying to figure everything out when Jiraya and Sasuke approached him. "You ready to go Naruto?" Jiraya asked cheerfully, not oblivious to Naruto's tension, but trying to ease it.

"Hm," Naruto hummed, moving from his place against the wall to follow them. He still had his eyes closed and Sasuke marveled at how he could move instinctively so gracefully. Abruptly he felt a bitter rush of hate for the annoying blond haired nuisance who had interrupted his confession to Naruto last night.

They had been walking for some time when Jiraya finally broke the silence. "So Naruto, Tsunade tells me that you haven't yet confided completely in Sasuke." Sasuke turned his eyes to Naruto with shock and betrayal written all over his face. Naruto looked horror struck. "You know that doesn't help teamwork any. It's better to get it out in the open," Jiraya continued. When Naruto remained silent he pushed harder. "Come on, boy! We're wasting daylight."

Naruto was silent for a few more minutes before coming to a conclusion. "Sasuke, I didn't keep anything from you that would hurt you. You know I wouldn't do that. Or at least, I hope you know." Naruto looked at him and seeing that he had no idea what to say to that, he prompted. "You know that, right Sasuke?"

In truth, Sasuke didn't know. He had no idea. He gestured helplessly with his hands. Naruto's eyes flash with sudden anger. "Well you should know!!! I would never keep something important from you!" 'Or at least,' Naruto amended in his head, 'I would never keep something that would be important to you from you.' Naruto had every intention of keeping his feelings for Sasuke safely away from him. He knew they would be of no matter to Sasuke anyway.

"Then what does he mean?" Sasuke asked, effectively bringing Naruto back to the conversation at hand.

Naruto sighed. "I assume that he's talking about my father. I don't know why such knowledge to promote or condemn teamwork, however."

'Promote or condemn?' Sasuke thought. 'That does sound like it should be in Naruto's vocabulary.'

'_Kit,' Kyuubi growled, 'you're slipping __**again!**__' _Naruto didn't dignify that with a response.

Jiraya shrugged. "That's part of what I was talking about, but not the main part." Naruto shot him a confused and questioning look. "I think it's time you let your mask fall for good."

Sasuke fixed Naruto with a hurt and questioning gaze. Mask? Could he have fallen in love with a false Naruto?

Naruto stared at Jiraya for a few seconds before turning his gaze to Sasuke. Sasuke had no idea what Naruto saw on his face but it seemed to give him resolve. "Okay," he whispered. "Sasuke, please don't be mad at me. At least here me out."

Somehow, Sasuke managed a numb nod. Naruto released a sigh of relief. "I guess I'll start with my dad." He took a deep breath. "Do you recognize the name 'Namikaze' at all?" Sasuke thought a minute but came up with a negative. He shook his head. "How much do you know. . ." Naruto hesitated; clearly this was difficult for him, "about the Yondaime?"

"You—You're the son of the Fourth?" Sasuke asked breathlessly.

Naruto nodded. "He wanted me to be looked at as a hero," Naruto whispered. "He wanted me to be seen as the person who was protecting everyone."

Sasuke was silent for a minute. Then, he asked just as quietly, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want you to look at me any differently," Naruto whispered. To that, Sasuke had no response.

Seeing that Naruto wasn't going on, Sasuke prompted. "Mask?" he asked.

Naruto glanced around helplessly. "I don't . . . I'm not . . . I . . ."

Abruptly, Sasuke grew angry. "You're pretending to be different than you are! The person that I thought was my friend doesn't exist!" Sasuke wasn't asking questions; he was making accusations.

"No!" Naruto yelled abruptly. "You've got it wrong!" He made an effort to work his volume down. "I just. . . I'm smarter and better than I make myself come across as. Okay?!?"

Sasuke took a deep breath to calm himself. "You don't pretend to be a completely different person?" Naruto shook his head. "Why did you do it?"

Naruto cocked his head. "Do what?"

"Pretend."

"I became who the villagers wanted me to be. Someone who couldn't possibly pose a threat to them." Sasuke took a deep breath, shocked at the horrible decision a young Naruto had been forced to make. It hurt him somewhere he couldn't place that he hadn't been there to help him.

They lapsed back into silence as they continued onward.

The entered a small city at the border of Fire Country at dusk. "We'll spend the night here," Jiraya said. "I need to get some research done." Naruto had snorted at that, but Sasuke hadn't understood.

After getting two hotel rooms, one for Naruto and Sasuke and one for him, Jiraya took off. There was an awkward silence between the two after Jiraya left until Naruto cheerfully suggested they go out. Somehow they ended up at a small bar.

Undoubtedly, it was Naruto to break the silence. "I didn't keep any secrets to hurt you. I hope you know that now."

Slowly, Sasuke nodded. "I do."

Naruto smiled. "Good." He got up from the table they were seated at and headed for the bar to refill his drink. The boys shinobi headbands signified them as legal adults. Three girls that had been eyeing the attractive blond since he and his companion had walked in pounced. They swarmed him as he reached the bar.

Sasuke's vision became tinted red. Maybe it was the slight buzz from the alcohol he had consumed or maybe he was just tired of hiding it, but he too pushed away from the table and moved towards the bar. He grabbed Naruto and pulled him away from the three girls and lightly pushed him against the wall.

"Teme, what the --" Sasuke cut him off. He took advantage of Naruto's mouth being open and slid his tongue into his mouth.

A/N: This took far, far too long, I know. I was going to end it before they entered the town, but I figured you deserved a treat since I made you wait.

Review!!

I don't own Naruto!!


	14. Chapter 14

**Warning: This chapter is rated M for a reason. Mature content. Boy x boy love. Don't like, don't read.**

**I don't own Naruto.**

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A horrified gasp went through the assembled crowd of females. It seemed that they hadn't missed Naruto's original address of Sasuke. They didn't seem to think that anyone he would address as 'teme' should be allowed to come on to him like that. Slowly they began to react in rage at the person who would dare interfere with the person each of them was determined to put a claim on.

Naruto for his part was too stunned to react right away. Feeling Naruto's inactivity, Sasuke began to draw away, horrified at his own impulsive actions. He couldn't stand it if this drove Naruto away from him. Suddenly all of Naruto's senses snapped back into place at once. He quickly moved himself forward, following Sasuke's retreating form, to return the pressure on his lips. Hesitantly, he wrapped his arms around Sasuke's shoulders. He had no idea why Sasuke was doing this, but Sasuke had started it and there was no way he was letting this opportunity pass him by.

Sasuke was a bit shocked when Naruto suddenly responded to his advances, but happy. Very, very happy. He tilted their heads to deepen the kiss. His excitement increased as Naruto licked his lips, asking for entrance. Sasuke gave it willingly, completely caught up in the sensation of _kissing_ Naruto.

Slowly, they pulled apart for air, looking into each other's eyes. "What was that?" Naruto whispered finally, to break the silence that had set in between them.

Sasuke opened his mouth to answer him, but never got the chance. Somehow, one of the angry girls who had been hitting on Naruto earlier had managed to get a knife from behind the bar and had promptly thrown it at Sasuke. Naruto's eyes widen and he realized what was going to happen a second before it did. In a split second, he leapt forward, wrapping his arms around Sasuke's waist, and teleported both of them out of there.

Sasuke's mind took a little longer to catch up with him. One minute he was with Naruto at the bar and the next minute they were at their hotel room. "What?" Sasuke finally asked and Naruto could see that he didn't understand what had happened.

"She was going to hurt you. I c-couldn't let that happen," he whispered. Sasuke still didn't understand completely understand what happened, but he got enough.

"So you saved me?" he whispered huskily. Naruto flushed and gave a slight nod. "Then I think that's a cause for _**celebration!**_" Naruto raised his eyebrows at the obvious innuendo, but didn't have the chance to respond before Sasuke was on him again and had pushed him backwards onto one of the beds.

All thought of response was blown from his mind as Sasuke's lips once again descended onto his and his hands slowly, sensuously made their way down his sides. Naruto chuckled softly into his love's mouth. Sasuke's hands were tickling his sides as they moved down to the edge of his shirt. Sasuke disengaged their locked lips long enough to rip Naruto's shirt over his head. When the shirt was gone, Sasuke kissed Naruto one more time and moved to nuzzle his nose to Naruto's temple.

"S'not fair," Naruto murmured breathily, proof enough of how Sasuke's actions were effecting him.

"What's not, Naruto?" Sasuke asked worriedly, concerned he had done something that Naruto didn't like.

"You still have your shirt on," Naruto whispered.

A sly grin overtook Sasuke's face. "That can be fixed." He quickly removed his own shirt.

"Better," Naruto murmured as Sasuke kissed him once more. The next kiss was slightly to the corner of his mouth as Sasuke made his way to Naruto's neck. Lightly, Sasuke bit at Naruto's neck. He didn't bite too hard. It was supposed to be pleasurable. As he ran his tongue over the marks, he earned a low moan from Naruto.

Deliberately, Sasuke brushed his knuckles over the bulge in Naruto's pants. Naruto's moaned louder. "Ahh—Sasuke, please... oh... don't tease me anymore."

Sasuke's eyebrows rose to his hairline. "But Naru-chan," he purred, "I'm just getting started." To emphasize his point, Sasuke put a little more pressure on Naruto's hard cock.

Shivers ran up Naruto's spine at the undeniably pleasurable sensation. "P-please Ssasuke! ... Tease me later. I-I want you now."

Sasuke looked deeply into Naruto's eyes. There were no barriers there now, no secrets. He could see the lust in Naruto's eyes, the desperate truth. But there was something else. Something that Sasuke was almost afraid to identify. Was it? Could it be? Love?

"Whatever you want, Naruto," Sasuke murmured lowly. A soft kiss was placed on Naruto's lips before Sasuke removed the rest of there clothes. Glancing around, Sasuke's eyes locked on one of the small, complimentary bottles of hand lotion that the hotel gave out. Perfect. No matter how much Sasuke wanted Naruto, he would never, never want to hurt him.

Sasuke pooled the cool lotion onto his fingers. Slowly, he pushed one finger into Naruto's tight ring of muscle. A low moan escaped Naruto's lips. He didn't appear to be in pain yet, so Sasuke added a second finger. This time, Naruto gasped and whimpered almost inaudibly.

"Shh," Sasuke soothed. "Relax Naru. I don't want to hurt you." Naruto nodded. Slowly, Sasuke began thrusting his two fingers in and out. When Sasuke found his prostate, Naruto cried out in ecstasy.

"Sasuke!!!"

Warm shivers ran down Sasuke's spine at the beautiful sound. "Oh, Naruto," he moaned. Unable to wait any longer, Sasuke added his third finger. The finger immediately came in contact with Naruto's prostate and Naruto arched his back in pleasure which overshadowed his pain.

"Sasuke!!! Oh—I want you now!!"

"Yes," Sasuke whispered. Carefully, he removed his fingers and, despite wanting more, Naruto whimpered at the loss. "It's okay, love." Naruto's eyes widened at the word 'love.' Sasuke was suddenly afraid and didn't give Naruto the chance to comment as he claimed his lips and eased himself inside of Naruto.

Naruto moaned softly against Sasuke's lips. Feeling the soft vibrations against his lips and hearing the sound combined with Naruto's tight heat was too much for Sasuke. Quickly, he pulled himself out almost completely and thrust back in as hard as he could, hitting Naruto's prostate directly.

"AH! Oh, Sasuke!! D-do that again!!!" Who was Sasuke to deny him?

It went on like that for a while. Neither of them knew how long it had been as both of them had lost the sense of reality to each other. Finally, Sasuke was torn between feeling too exhausted to keep going and never wanting this to end. A tell tale tightening in his groin told him the end was near.

"Ah—Sasuke!!" Naruto moaned. And that was it. Sasuke came inside Naruto with a loud yell of Naruto's name. The feeling of the white-hot liquid inside of him pushed Naruto over the edge too.

As they both came down from their respective highs and separated, they were silent. They knew that they had a lot to talk about but, as their arms wrapped around each other, it would wait until morning. Neither of them would ruin this moment as they drift off to sleep together.

**Reviews make me happy. I promise to try and update faster from now on.**


	15. Chapter 15

Sasuke woke up to complete darkness feeling more content than he had ever felt in his life. Something warm rested against his chest and he was well rested and refreshed. Somehow he couldn't remember how he had ended up in this position, but he wasn't going to bother trying to figure it out now. Snuggling closer to the warm lump on his chest, he drifted back to sleep with a smile on his face.

-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-

Rays of sunshine snaked through gaps in the curtains the next time Sasuke awoke. Slowly opening his eyes, he was met with the sight of blond locks that could outshine the sun resting against his chest. Sasuke stared at him blankly. **Naruto?**

"_P-please Ssasuke! ... Tease me later. I-I want you now."_

**Oh . . . Oh. God. No. There's no way I took advantage of Naruto. Did I?**

"_Ah—Sasuke!!"_

_Sasuke came inside Naruto with a loud yell of Naruto's name._

**Oh My God. I did. I took advantage of Naruto. No. NO!**

Sasuke jumped away from the bed faster than the eye could see. Naruto's head fell to the bed with a sharp smack as he hit the mattress. He awake immediately and sat straight up. "What!"

Naruto glanced around the room looking for the brunette he knew should be in the room with him. Frowning, realizing that Sasuke was gone, Naruto stood up, the pain in his lower back already healed thanks to the Kyuubi.

Sasuke was in the bathroom with his arms supporting his weight against the sink staring into the mirror. At the person in the mirror. The person who seemed to do nothing but hurt his best friend.

"Sasuke?" a soft voice whispered. A strangled sob escaped his throat. "Sasuke?! What's wrong?"

"Why?"

"What?" Naruto asked, completely in the dark.

"Why don't you hate me? Don't you realize what's happened here? What I've done it you?" Sasuke growled.

Naruto's eyes widened. "What do you mean? I don't understand Sasuke. Are you mad at me?"

"Mad at you?" Sasuke asked, his voice hallow, no emotion in it. "Mad at _you!?!"_ Sasuke swung to face him, Sharingan swirling in his eyes. "Why in the fucking hell would I be mad at _you?!?"_

"S-sasuke?"

Suddenly Sasuke fell to the floor, all emotion drained from his body. "I'm furious with me," he whispered.

"Do you—Do you regret last night? Is that what this is about?" Naruto whispered just as quietly.

"Regret it? Of course I regret it. I took advantage of you. Why aren't you mad at me?"

Naruto softly kneeled in front of Sasuke. "I'm not mad at you, Sasuke, because you didn't take advantage of me."

Slowly, Sasuke looked up, daring to hope. "B-but you were drunk."

Silently, Naruto shook his head. "I was a little tipsy, maybe, but not drunk. I wanted it." Hesitantly, Naruto reached forward and took Sasuke into his arms. "Sasuke, I love you," he whispered almost non-existently. Naruto frowned as he felt Sasuke start trembling. "What's wrong?"

"N-naruto. I love you too. I was so afraid I was going to lose you over this." Sasuke clutched himself against Naruto.

"Shh. . . Shh. . . Sasuke. You haven't lost me. I love you," Naruto whispered. "Geez, you're acting as hormonal as a pregnant woman."

"Sh-shut up dobe," Sasuke muttered. Sasuke leaned up to kiss him.

Unnoticed by either of the boys, Jiraya leaned in the doorway. "Am I interrupting something?"


	16. Chapter 16

Naruto and Sasuke jerked apart so violently that both of their heads cracked against the wall they had been leaning on. Jiraya chuckled. Perhaps he'd have to make a break from his usual choice in novels and base a book solely off of these two. They had better chemistry than another couple he had ever seen and they had yet to fully realize it. It _was _rather amusing to see Sasuke flustered and Naruto calm. Both boys had seemed to realize that they were currently in front of their newest sensei wearing – well – nothing.

Naruto opened his mouth but Jiraya held up a hand to cut him off. "I don't really want to know right now. We'll start training in an hour. Meet me outside the village." Jiraya disappeared.

Silence ensued between the two for a while. "Well, that was rather awkward." Predictably it was Naruto to break the silence. Whatever atmosphere they had created before was gone.

"Hn."

Naruto chuckled. He stood up, holding out a hand to Sasuke. "Come on Mr. Emotional." Sasuke flushed lightly, but accepted Naruto's help. "Sasuke, say something please." Sasuke's eyes shot to connect with Naruto's. "Tell me we're still us."

Sasuke softly brought his hands us to cup both of Naruto's cheeks. "Naru, I promise you, we're still us just better."

A small smile crept onto Naruto's face and was mirrored by Sasuke. "Better," Naruto confirmed.

Forty minutes later Naruto and Sasuke were in a glade outside the small town they were staying in sparring lightly. To be fair, the kid of sparring didn't have anything on the other spars they had competed in. They simply used taijutsu until one of them was knocked down, the other helped him up and they started over. They were simply too elated to really fight with each other. Small smiles crept onto their faces each time they helped each other up.

"Enough already." They harsh voice startled them out of their warm-ups. They turned to see Jiraya entering the clearing. "Let's get going already so I can get back to my research." _I have a feeling that this particular trip is going to be the perfect opportunity to observe one couple in particular._

Naruto nodded while Sasuke merely responded with his typical "Hn". "Okay then. All we're going to do today is work on your bond." Jiraya couldn't resist a little jab. "Though you seem to have helped yourself to that lesson this morning."

Naruto rolled his eyes, used to how Jiraya operated, knowing he was just teasing. On the other hand, Sasuke's face burned lightly. "Okay, here's what you have to do. You'll probably want to sit down and face each other." They obeyed easily. "Now all you are going to do is activate nentougan and sharingan at the same time. You need to be completely open to each in your mind for this to work. You're going to melt seamlessly into each other's minds and join together, forming a preliminary bond between the two of you. That's the most I can explain for now. The rest is up to you actually being able to complete it." Jiraya paused. "Ah.. Be forewarned, this is a little... intimate."

Naruto sent Jiraya a naughty smirk, getting back at him for his attempt to embarrass Sasuke earlier. "I think we can handle it." Sasuke smirked as well. Wordlessly, they moved into position facing each other. Sasuke was amazed at how they didn't even need a signal, they just knew when to active.

'_Sasuke...?'_

'_Naruto..? Can we hear each other's thoughts?'_

'_I __**think **__so.'_

'_Naruto, I love you.'_

'_What? Where did that come from? I mean I love you too of course, but...'_

'_I just wanted you to know.'_

'_I knew.'_

With that they were pulled even closer together than they had been before. Together, they were Sasuke at their first meeting when they were small, Sasuke witnessing his parents murder, Sasuke and Naruto's perspective on the Valley of End, Sasuke returning to the village and seeing Naruto again, Naruto skipping Sasuke's trial, Sasuke having his cursed seal shut down, Naruto slipping away as Ino kissed Sasuke, Sasuke devastated to be alone, Sasuke learning of Naruto's facade, Sasuke kissing Naruto in the bar, Naruto fearing for Sasuke's life, both of them making love, and both points of view of waking up this morning all at once.

Then they were violently torn apart, both of them immediately missing the sense of intimacy that they had lost. They could both faintly feel the faint glow of each other like they were attached by a very thin string.

"Well, I can tell by the look on your faces that that worked. For now, you'll need the eye contact to communicate mentally, but eventually it will become established and automatic. This is the secret of the nentougan/sharingan duo." Jiraya stopped, seeing that Naruto and Sasuke weren't going to be able to focus on anything else after that, he sighed. "We'll pick this up tomorrow."


End file.
